Project Identification & Design

By:
Francis Kenneth Kimbugwe

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 Project Identification and
Design
During the project identification and
design phase, project teams and
stakeholders work together
collaboratively and systematically
to:
 identify project ideas
collect assessment data
analyze the project assessment data
develop the project logic or design.

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 Project identification
 Looks at the issue that makes the project necessary.
 This is done through a “needs assessment”.
 Needs identification seeks the real needs to be satisfied.
You have to understand the situation before intervention.
 This stage is critical for the success of the rest of the project
 It is some times called situation analysis stage.
 Project identification involves the following:
1. Identifying and assessment of needs
2. Analyse the Stakeholders.
3. Analyse the problem,
4. Identification of objective and;
5. Selection of the strategy.

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 Questions to help in identifying
project ideas
Where do ideas come from?

Who identified the needs and

opportunities?

What evidence is required to

support needs?
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 Assessment of needs
Needs assessment looks at assessing what
community/organisational needs are, whom
they affect.
Jonathan Bradshaw (1972) work.

Four methods of defining and measuring

needs:
Felt needs.
 Verbalized directly or indirectly by the concerned
person or her family or community.
Defined by the individual’s or the
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community’s own perception of need and
any discrepancy between their situation
 Four methods of defining and
measuring needs
Expressed needs.
Defined as a felt need that has become a demand
from an individual or a community.
Expressed needs refer to what can be inferred about
community needs by observation of the
community's use of services .
Normative needs/assessed:
Defined by the observations of experts, professionals and
consultants who implicitly or explicitly compare the current
situation to a set of professional or expert standards.
Comparative needs.
Defined by comparing the differences in people’s access to
resources.

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 Collecting assessment data
 (1) Confirm that the idea; (2) to suggest
adjustment to the idea before moving forward; (3)
to point to a more viable project idea.
 Forms of assessment of project ideas:
 Socio-economic information on the target community or
group or organisation and other stakeholders.
 Gathering data on the current state of livelihood security,
market share, employee capabilities.
 Canvasing target populations about their current
knowledge, behavior and attitudes.
 Mapping the geography and bio-physical assets of the
intervention area.
 Identifying the policies that might impact (+vely or –vely)
a potential project intervention.
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 Course work Assignment Take Home

Question :
Identify a project idea and take it through
the assessment, analysis, and design and
action planning to come up a project (Plan)
operations plan.
a. Identify a project idea or
opportunity and describe its
source(s), how you were able to
identified it, and the evidence to
support the need (s).
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 Analysis Phase
Objectives of analysis:
 Examine the causes and effects of the problems or
issues.
 Involves reflection and examining the ways in which
these problems or issues are linked to each other.
Operation processes:
1. Stakeholder analysis – power-interest gride for stakeholder
priortisation/stakeholder matrix.
2. Problem analysis – Problem tree/pyramid; Doctor-Patient;
Participatory diagnosis; expert method; Ishikawa. Fish born
method. Core/major problem or issues; effects;
underlying issues and root causes.
3. Objectives analysis
4. Strategy analysis and selection
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 Stakeholder analysis:
Stakeholder Analysis is defined as a process of
systematically gathering and analysing
qualitative information to determine whose
interests should be taken into account when
developing and or implementing a policy or
program.
Stakeholder analysis is a process of identifying a
project’s key stakeholders, their interests in the
project and the ways those interests affect the
risks or viability of the project.
A Stakeholder is any person or organization, that
can be positively or negatively affected by, or
cause an impact on the actions of a
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company/project or organization.
 Examples of stakeholders
 Project team  Contractors
 Project managers  Government
 Top management agencies
 Administrative  Other organizations
support
 The target group/s
 Functional managers
 Funders of the
and beneficiaries of
the
project
project/customers.
 Suppliers of
equipments to the
project.

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 Categories of stakeholders.
Stakeholders can be categorized as:
Primary / internal stakeholders: Those
ultimately affected either positively or
negatively by the project. E.g. staff, direct
beneficiary.
Secondary stakeholders: Intermediaries
in the delivery process.
External stakeholders: Those affected
by the project indirectly e.g. development
partners, gov’t, Suppliers of equipments.

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 Benefits of stakeholder analysis
We are able to identify who has an interest in
the success or failure of the project.
Draw out the interests of stakeholders in
relation to the problems which the project is
seeking to address.
Identify and resolve conflicts of interests
between stakeholders which may influence
the success of the project.
Assess the appropriate type of participation
by different stakeholders at successive
stages of the project.
Form a basis for participatory planning and
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management and project sustainability
 Benefits Cont’d
Improve the project’s understanding of the needs of
those affected by the problem
Identify potential winners and losers as a result of the
project.
Identify those who have rights, interests, resources,
skills and abilities to take part in, or influence the
course of the project.
We better understand the social and political issues
which the project planners must take into account.
Gaining support from powerful stakeholder can help to
win more resources.
Allows early and frequent communication with stake
holders which ensures full understanding of what is
being done to understand the benefits of the project.
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 Steps stakeholder analysis
1. Identify who your stakeholders are &
classify them i.e. List all the possible
participants or stakeholders in a
potential project.
2. Work out their power, influence &
interest, so you know who you should
focus on.- look for Actors and
Factors.
3. Formulate methods of bringing them
on board. i.e. strategies (Buffering or
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bridging).
 Tool: Power- Interest Grid for
Stakeholder Priorisitsation

A B

D C

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 Stakeholder Matrix
Stakeho Problem Interest Potentia Possible
actions to
lders s s l/ address
basic What What do capacity stakeholde
problems they want r
characte do they from the and
interest/str
ristics face? project? motivati ategies.
on to
bring
about
change.
What
might they
bring to
the
project?
!. 1. Buffering
17 Stakeholder 2. Bridging
1:
 b. Conduct a
stakeholders analysis for
your project using a
stakeholder matrix.

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 Problem Analysis
A problem analysis looks at the prevailing
situation to get the right image of the
reality.
A problem justifies the existence of a
project.
A problem well understood is a Problem
Half-Solved
A problem tree is one of the most widely
used tools used to conduct problem
analysis.
A tool used is a problem tree illustrating

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the various problems.
 Steps in Problem Analysis

Define the framework and subject of the

analysis.
Analyze interested parties/stakes/stake
holder analysis.
Analyse the problematic situation/problem
tree.
Priotise the problems in order of
importance and rank them.
Select the one with the highest cause
effect relationship ( use the concept of
20 opportunity cost to make a choice).
 Cause –effect principle

Core
problem or
issue

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 Approaches to problem
analysis
1. The Fishbone diagram.
2. Doctor-Patient Method
3. The expert method
4. Participatory Diagnosis
5. The pyramid/problem tree method

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 C. Conduct a problem
analysis for your project a
problem tree method.

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 Objectives Analysis
It looks at the solution to the problem & the effect of the
solution.
Its about changing undesirable conditions (the problem)
into desirable condititions (the objectives).
One of the simplest approaches to objectives analysis is
the objectives tree. An “objective tree” describes the
range of potential improvements relating to people’s lives.
Benefits
Describe the situation that should prevail after the
problem has been solved.
Identify & set the objectives in the order of importance.
In understanding the impracticable and feasible
situations.

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 C. Come an objective
analysis for your project
an objectives tree
method.

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 Analysis of strategy
Strategy is the direction and scope of
organisation based on the advantages, resources,
environment & stakeholders in the project.
Identify possible strategy so as to attain the
objectives.
Three questions to consider are:
1. Which elements of the objectives tree will be included in
the project intervention?
2. Which elements will not be included in the scope of the
project?
3. What are the criteria which will be used to make these
decisions?
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 Factors to consider when selecting
the strategy.

Priority of the Resource

stakeholder availability/Budget
limitations.
Probability of success
Financial/economic
Time frame feasibility
External program Technical feasibility

considerations and sustainability

Internal program
 Appropriateness
considerations
Institutional capacity Portfolio
Budget limitations. considerations
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 Strategy analysis Matrix
1 2 3 4
option
criteria
• Cost effectiveness
(Budget issues)
• The number of
people it will reach
• Is it environmental
sustainable
• How long will it take
to be achieved (Time
frame )

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 d. Describe your project
strategy or approach for
responding to the need or
project idea.

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 end

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